Bognor Chichester CTC Ride Notes- Club Website is at www.bognorchichesterctc.org.uk

Sunday, 9 September 2012

Sunday 9 September. Ride to Portchester Castle

Today’s ride met at Chichester Cross, I was the leader and I was joined there by Colin, Gill, Sam, Samantha and newcomers John and Angela. The weather was hot and sunny, up to 25C only clouding over after tea.

The day was notable for Colin’s first Club Ride on his new bike, an Airnimal.

I took a route out via the Centurion Way Cyclepath and then West Stoke and Funtington. Our route happened to take us on the same course as a major Sportive, the Southern Sportive which has 4 distances up to 120 miles. We were often passed by other riders. We continued to Rowlands Castle and they turned off our route just after this. We stopped for elevenses at Horndean Garden Centre Cafe.

Then it was mainly quiet lanes via Cathrington and taking us north of Waterlooville and Denmead. We continued via Worlds End and Hipley. After a few more lanes we started the big climb of the day to the top of Portsdown Hill which looks down on Portsmouth.

After regrouping at the top it was a sharp descent and down through the town to Portchester Caste. This is free to enter save for the Keep and we rode through the gates and down to the waterfront for a picnic lunch.

On the way back heading out of town we stopped at a junction when there was a sudden very loud baaaaang. Car backfiring, gunshot, bomb – no it was Samantha’s bike tire exploding. Colin had used a mini track pump to put a lot more air in it at lunch as it was quite soft. Unfortunately Samantha had too small a tube in there so it was already stretched and the extra pressure proved too much. Luckily only the tube was damaged not the tyre so it was soon replaced.

We continued back up Portsdown Hill and then along the ridge road with fine views over Portsmouth. Then down to Havant and on to Emsworth and Tea at Heidi’s.

After tea the return was via Westbourne and the South Coast Cycle Route back to Chichester.

Mileage from and back to Chichester was 51. My mileage from Pagham was 62.

Yesterday I visited the Olympic Park for the 4th time, this time to the Olympic Stadium on the last day of competition at the Stadium. There are few pictures below. I got there early and was able to get to the Olympic Flame before going to my seat.

Below is a Fisheye lens shot of the Stadium.

Below a shot with a longer lens of the start of one of the 100 metres Heats.

The ride on Sunday was starting from Pulborough Station for the DA Event the Off Road Arun Crossings Ride, going to The Haven near Billingshurst for Lunch.

The weather was cloudy with spells of drizzle occasionally progressing to heavy drizzle but clearing up by midday.

The ride did not start off well. Colin and Samantha caught a train to Pulborough from the coast. Unfortunately Southern had put on 12 coach trains whereas normally it is 8 coaches. Colin was in the rear 4 which missed the platform at Pulborough. They had to take the bikes up the corridor and over seats to get to a carriage further up to get off at Billingshurst.

Colin did not have mobile numbers for anybody at the start and none of the riders at the start had Colin’s Mobile number. Colin assumed riders at the start would go on the elevenses stop at Wisborough Green. The riders at the start assumed Colin had missed the train and would be on the next one an hour later, oops.

After the next train produced no Colin Bob took over as leader. Luckily somebody had printed out the2008 route directions from the DA Website, came in useful at last! Everybody eventually met up at lunch. In the circumstances everybody who was at the start was given the full 10 points for DA Events purposes.

Meanwhile as I no longer do off-road I missed all this and caught the train to Billingshurst (in the correct coach) On the way up a bunch of kids with BMX bikes got on. They adopted a novel approach to getting the maximum number of bikes into one entranceway.

I got to the Haven just as Anne arrived. She also came direct though all the way by bike. When I parked my bike I spotted a mouse, clearly not too well as it stayed put to have its picture taken. Its day was not improved when Liz arrived and didn’t spot it and put her bike on it. Gill picked up a stone and was about to put it out of its misery but it knew what that was about and scampered off into the bushes.

After lunch Colin took over as leader to take the off road riders back to Pulborough.

Last Saturday 1 September I went to the Paralympics to the Velodrome. I had a ticket to the morning session and there was a fair bit of excitement with 3 world records broken and a British Gold Medal.

This was an overview of the Velodrome taken early before most of the crowd arrived. This was taken with my brand new 8mm Fisheye Lens.

In the Kilometre Tandem Time Trial, Neil Fachie and Barney Storey en route to a Para Cycling Word Record and Gold Medal win. The noise from the crowd as they did this was awesome.

Jody Cundy in the Pursuit Qualifying. He went on to win Bronze in the afternoon in the C4 Pursuit Finals.

My latest HDR picture was from Paris in July. This is the EDF building which has a large canopy over the entrance. From underneath it looks just like the Saucer Section of the Starship Enterprise.

Today was Bank Holiday Sunday and the only fully dry day of the long weekend. The day started with clear blue skies with more cloud building up in the afternoon.

Avryl was the leader and she was joined at Chichester Cross by myself, David and Keith. Arthur and Lynn joined us later for lunch. Di and Brian joined us by car for Lunch with Di not able to cycle yet after her latest accident.

We rode on the lanes round to Bosham Hoe and then round the Harbour where I took most of the pictures today. Always a scenic spot especially on a sunny day with clouds scudding across the sky.

The tide was fully out so I suggested to Avryl that we take the path across the Harbour.

The low tide boats and sky required a picture.

We stopped for 11’s at the Arcade Cafe, Bosham. It was really busy but we got a table in the sunshine and Keith set about the Crossword.

We continued up to the main road and then the cyclepath alongside before more quiet lanes round the Chidham loop. Then it was inland and on the South Coast Cycleroute lanes via Woodmancote. At Aldsworth we caught Arthur and Lynn. Then it was on to lunch at Stansted.

The return ride was fairly direct passing near Funtington and then down to the South Coast Cycleroute lanes and then cutting down to Fishbourne Roman Palace Cafe for tea. Di and Brian again joined us there.

It was then a short ride back to Chichester and our own routes home. Mileage from and back to Chichester was 27.

Below are the latest 2 pictures processed from my stay in Paris for the Tour de France finish. Both are taken near my Hotel in the futuristic La Defense business district.

Thursday 23rd August. Evening Ride to The Maypole, YaptonThere were 5 of us out for the last ride of the season - Debbie, John, Julian, Harvey and myself.

The wind had completely dropped and with the sun having been out all afternoon, the evening was pleasantly warm.

We had an uneventful ride round the backstreets to the new Flansham housing development (utilising a bit of freshly-opened road) and from there up the Cycle track to Barnham. Then Walberton village, dropping down towards Yapton, turning at Lake Lane and crossing the railway at the bridleway crossing.

A train was approaching as we crossed the railway. This was running at dead slow speed and sounded his horn as he came up to us. There is a long standing issue with the track at Yapton crossing and a temporary speed restriction has been in place for months, meaning all the trains approaching from either direction have to come to a near standstill. Rectifying the problem will involve closing the road, which has taken some time to organise. However we noted that at long last, road closure notices have been posted.

After the crossing it was a short trip down the bridleway (where the surface seemed a lot worse tonight than I've ever seen it) to the pub.

We returned via Yapton (where Harvey peeled off for home) - then to Bilsham, Middleton and finally Felpham.

Sunday 19th August. Ride to East WitteringThere were 2 rides today, a short ride to East Wittering and a long one to Hindhead. With sky high temperatures I choose a short ride to the sea with cooling breezes. Temperatures were about 25C on the coast and 30C inland.

Harvey was the Ride leader and he was joined at Chichester Cross by myself, Alan, Liz, Arthur, Lynn and 2 of Arthur’s friends from the Moulton Club so 8 out on the Ride.

Harvey led us west from Chichester and then picked up the Saltern’s Way Cyclepath to Chichester Yacht Basin. We stopped here for elevenses. Alan and Liz left us after elevenses as they needed to get back early. The rest of us continued on lanes and paths via Birdham Pool and picked up the Saltern’s Way path again over to West Itchenor.

Then it was a lane south and a crossing of the Main Road to West Wittering. This was a solid traffic jam with cars heading to the beach, bikes were the better mode of transport. We continued on a quiet lane to East Wittering and lunch at the Rendezvous Cafe. Harvey and I had a picnic lunch on a green on the front. We watched the flashes of a thunderstorm out a sea. We got the edges of it with some heavy spots but from the wet roads later in the afternoon it looked to have hit land at Bognor.

By the time we headed off after lunch the sun was out again. Harvey led us on some back streets to Bracklesham with some kids running after us shouting Wiggo. We were not quite up to that speed, maybe we need longer sideburns.

Then it was lanes via Earnley and a lane and path to come out on the main road by the entrance to the RSPB Pagham Nature Reserve. We took the cyclepath from there alongside the Harbour to Sidlesham. The tide was fully in making for a beautiful scene instead of the more usual mud flats.

We continued across fields on the Route 88 cyclepath to Runcton and Merston and then on to stop for tea at the Brick Kiln Nursery Cafe.

Mileage for the day from and back to Chichester was about 26. My mileage from Pagham was 37.

Below is my latest picture. This is of the Rainbow Tower Sculpture in Paris taken when there to watch the Tour de France, I have used the Warp tool in Photoshop to warp and curve the base of the Tower.

Last Thursday 9 August I got to visit the Olympic Park. The first and second rounds of tickets distributed in lotteries were vastly oversubscribed and my applications for the Velodrome got nowhere. However this year when extra tickets came up for some events I got a ticket for the BMX, men’s quarter finals.

This picture below was taken when they were warming up and I liked it for the appearance it gives of them jumping over the Games Maker Volunteer who is actually on a nearer part of the track.

My seat was located near the finish right next to the final bend which gave good photo opportunities.

During my visit I also explored the Park. Apart from the beautiful architecture of the various Stadiums the River Lee and various canals run through the Park. The bank sides have been beautifully landscaped with wild flowers as in this shot along the bank of the canal running past the Olympic Stadium. This canal bank path was about the quietest part of the Park, away from the “maddening crowd”

Below is a shot of the Basketball Stadium.

I stayed on into the evening to get night shots including the Orbit Tower.

And the Olympic Stadium.

On Saturday I led the Beach Picnic Ride from Bognor Library to Elmer Beach. It was a beautiful and warm day save for a strong easterly wind. Only Julian joined me at the Library but Alan and Liz went direct. We sheltered in the lee of a Groyne. The water was close to low tide and coming in.

Nobody bothered with a swim. The ride out was on a lot of back streets and a more direct return.

Last Wednesday I took the train up to London to watch the Men’s and Women’s Olympic Cycling Time Trials and of course watch Bradley Wiggins win gold.

I checked out the route on Street view and found a quiet fairly narrow suburban street to be nearer the riders with a green park as a background. This was far enough away from Hampton Court to avoid massive crowds and waving flags and cameras getting in the way of pictures.

My Union Jack was put on the railing and was accompanied by more as others arrived. The crowd here was about one deep as opposed to 6 deep on many other parts of the Course.

I set the camera to continuous shooting and a high shutter speed to get them as sharp as possible as they sped past at 30 mph. I took multiple shots of each rider and about 700 altogether. All led up to Wiggo coming past.

Below is my favourite straight out of the Camera without editing.

Next after about 2 hours of editing in Photoshop creating an HDR and blur effect is the final image.

After the last rider went past I walked about a mile and caught the finish on a big screen.

The ride today was to the DA Picnic at Wisborough Green. The weather to start with was not too promising with a series of torrential downpours early morning until about 8.30. However in the end most of the day was dry with occasional warm sunny spells.

I was the leader and I was joined at Walberton Pond only by Samantha. However Chris joined us at Petworthand Colin Alan and Liz joined at Wisborough Green so 6 out on the day.

The route out was via Eartham and then the main road via Upwaltham and the sharp descent of Duncton Hill. Then it was pleasant lanes via Barlavington and Shopham Bridge. Either side of the Bridge there were big floods with the road looking like a river.

The plan was to stop at Tiffens in Petworth for elevenses but this was closed. Richard Boulton, John Maxim and Chris arrived there at the same time. We joined them and went on via Balls Cross to stop for a late elevenses at Kirdford Stores Cafe. This proved to be a good stop as soon after we arrived another torrential downpour started.

Sorry for this picture which caught some people unawares, Chris looks to be asleep and John looks to be strongly disapproving of having his picture taken.

Then it was on to Wisborough Green where we met 4 from Horsham Crawley and Dave Fox and his daughters. The weather was warm and almost pleasant for the picnic.

We went for a coffee at the Cafe at Wisborough Green.

The return route was via Adversane and West Chiltington and a stop for Tea at Houghton Bridge Tea Rooms.

Return mileage from Walberton Pond was 43. My mileage from Pagham was 61.

Before getting on to this weekend first a word about last weekend in Paris. 2 of the pictures shown in the Blog for the Tour finish have since been edited adding blur or Zoom effects. These images are below.

On Saturday Anne and I went up to the Men’s Olympic Road race at the Box Hill Circuit. Other members also went though generally staying up there or by car including Mary, Gill and John Rigarlsworth.

Anne and I took the same train from Chichester the first one at 05.19 to Gatwick. For the period of the Olympics Southern are blocking Bikes on Trains any further north than Gatwick. For the weekend of the Olympic road races this was extended to no further north than Horsham except for trains going via Hove where the limit was still Gatwick.

We cycled from Gatwick on a Cyclepath out of the Airport and then north on lanes to the western end of the Box Hill loop near Betchworth. No great problem in distance, about 14 miles. We arrived at 8.00 about 4 hours before the race was due to arrive. The sharp corner I had planned to use was already full so we got a spot a short way up from there.

My 5ft wide Union Jack was set up in the hedge alongside 2 others. Then my flag was a little overwhelmed when somebody else arrive with a 12ft wide flag using by bike as one attachment point. In the picture my flag is first to the right from the big one.

Some of our neighbouring spectators got to work with the chalk on the road.

There was great atmosphere before the race with great crowds arriving by foot and many by bike.

When police motorbikes started going round there were great cheers from the crowd and some of them waved back. One of them did a sort of dance on his bike.

The great advantage of the Box Hill loop was that the riders came round 9 times. Also we were on a very narrow lane so the riders were very close. Most of my pictures were taken with a lens set at between 10 and 16mm.

Here is a selection of a few out of the 600 pictures I took during the day.

Below is my favourite with Wiggo as the main subject. I did a little (well a lot really) of editing to add pan blur in Photoshop and exclude the cyclists from this effect.

After the event we cycled south on lanes via Horsham. I decided to get the train back from there while Anne cycled all the way home. Soon after leaving Box Hill we spotted in the village of Brockham the Church doing teas, an irresistible tea stop.

Today, Sunday there were 2 Club Rides organised due to meet for a picnic at Southsea. Colin led the long ride though unfortunately nobody else turned up. I joined the short ride led by Avryl. Also joining for this ride were Arthur, Debbie and 2 more from the Moulton Club.

Everybody except for Avryl and Debbie planned to return from Elevenses so Avryl and Debbie also decided to.The ride out was on mainly on cyclepaths along the A259 via Southbourne to an elevenses stop at the Greenhouse Cafe Emsworth.

The return was back to Southbourne and then pleasant lanes to Chichester. The coastal area avoided the heavy storms a short way north so a generally sunny day though cooler than of late and a strong SW wind.

Distance was 20 miles from and back to Chichester. My mileage from Pagham was 30.

John was the leader today and he was joined at the start by Julian, Graham and Edwin. John took a route via back streets north of the A259 to Flansham and then the main road to the turn off for Yapton. Edwin turned for home here not yet being fully recovered from his virus.

Then it was on via Yapton, Walberton and Mount Noddy. Carol and Steve had made their own way and met us there. On the return ride we came back via Level Mare Lane and Barnham, at which point we decided to take the cycle track back to Felpham.

Half way up Church Lane on the way to the start of the cycle track, I realised I had a puncture. It wasn't completely flat so we pumped it and I made a bolt for home. However it was flat again before the bridge, so we pumped it again. At this point John discovered he also had a puncture. We pumped it and kept going. After we both went flatI pumped for a third time and this got me down to Hoe Lane at which point the tyre had detached from the rim. Meanwhile John had done the sensible thing and stopped to change the tube - I didn't have a spare with me!

I pushed the bike for the remaining mile-and-a-bit home, no-one else passed me on the way as they were all assisting John to change his tube in the pitch black.I eventually got home at 10.55 having done 20.6 miles (including all the pushing).

Sunday 22 July. Tour de France ParisLast Saturday I took the Eurostar to Paris to view and Photograph the finish of the Tour de France in Paris. I stayed at an Ibis Hotel in the Commercial District of La Defence. For summer weekends they had a special discounted rate of 55 euros a night which is exceptionally cheap for Paris.

One thing to consider if you want to get a good viewpoint for the race to take photos is that all the best spots are taken by about 9.30 and all the railing spots are full by 10.30. The race arrives soon after 4.00 so about 7 hours of waiting for a good view. I travelled prepared with a lightweight folding stool, Kindle, and a copy of Cycling Weekly.

I checked out various viewpoints from pictures taken on the internet of earlier races. I settled on a sharp corner on the Rue de Rivoli. On the circuit this is just after the riders emerge from the Louvre Underpass. They then take the sharp turn into the Rue de Rivoli which leads up to the Place de la Concorde and the Champs Elysees . I choose this location over the Champs Elysee because of the better field of view without the trunks of Trees in the way as well as double railings there.

There is normally a fast Metro Service from a station close to the Hotel to the Centre. Today however this was closed and I took a replacement bus service. Getting off at the Arc de Triomphe I walked down and followed the Gendarmes directions to divert round the excluded area by the finish line. Next snag was that my first choice of the side of the corner on the Rue de Rivoli, a square with a good view of the underpass, was barriered off contrary to other race years from the pictures I had researched. Plan B was the other side of the corner also known as Norwegian corner. I was there soon after 9.00 and was early enough to bag my railing spot and also attach my 5ft long Union Jack to the railings. I soon felt a little like a cuckoo in the nest with my Union Jack surrounded by many Norwegian ones. However we were cheering for the same team with their hero being Norwegian National Champion and Sky rider Edvald Boosson Hagen.

I need not have worried to much about getting bored as a whole lot of French racers turned up to do what looked to be an imitation race up and down the Rue de Rivoli for what looked to be a film.

This was followed by a real race round the circuit by riders all in yellow jerseys some looking a little rotund and flagging at the back. The hour long Tour de France Caravan followed at 2.00. This is a carnival on wheels supporting the Tours various sponsors. Unfortunately unlike in Dieppe a few weeks earlier no freebies were thrown into the crowds.

I was well sorted for the photography. I had 2 SLR cameras. One was set up on a Gorillapod a flexible small tripod which has bendy leg sections to wrap around things like lampposts and railings. An ordinary tripod would not be possible in the crowd. The object was to fire off 2 camera’s at once when the race arrived. One zoomed in to one spot and another on another spot with a wider lens. The riders would move from one cameras viewpoint to the next. Surprise surprise it did actually work. As the race arrived fingers on 2 triggers, cameras set on continuous shooting . Sorry, I know, clever clogs you’re thinking!

Anyway here are some pictures, a few of hundreds –

Lead out Wiggo, Boosson Hagen and Cav

Wiggo and Cav

Cav

All pictures are out of the camera, no processing yet

After the finish I headed up the Tulliers Gardens to point overlooking the Place de la Concorde. The presentations were not visible in the restricted area but could be seen on a big screen.

Then it was back to the Champs Elysee. Many Brits were draped in large flags including me, great fun.

The riders and team managers were heading up the Champs Elysee for the Team Photos at the Arc de Triomphe. Many were taking their own photos of us and this great occasion while we photographed them.

There were 2 rides today, one short and one long. Today was finally dry and even warm when the sun came out. There was a lot of cloud and compared to the last few weeks fairly light winds. As a result there was a very good turnout on both rides.

Harvey led the short ride to West Marden and he was joined at Chichester Cross by Avryl, Christine, Arthur, Lynn, Alan, Liz, Debbie and 4 riders from the Moulton Club so 12 in all.

Harvey led the group on lanes via Westbourne to stop for elevenses at Stansted Garden Centre Cafe. Then it was on to lunch at The Victoria, West Marden. Arun Adur section were also due for lunch at West Marden but nobody arrived.

After lunch the group returned via the scenic lanes round Bosham and the Harbour before continuing to stop for Tea at Fishbourne Roman Palace Cafe.

Anne led the long ride to Cranleigh also starting from Chichester Cross but with a much earlier start time of 8.30. She was joined by Colin, Roger, Gill and Rex. John Maxim joined the group at Elevenses making 6 in all.

The group headed via Fittleworth and Bedham to stop for Elevenses at Kirdford Stores Cafe. Then it was north over the border into Surrey for lunch at Cranleigh Garden Centre. On the way back John and Rex spit off while the rest took lanes via Chiddingfold to stop for Tea at Lurgarshall Winery.

Harvey and Anne supplied info for the Reports.

Below are a few more pictures. The first one was taken on the second day of watching the Tour de France near Dieppe. This was on Stage 5 at a small village near Dieppe with Mark Cavendish centre stage in his World Champions Rainbow Jersey. The picture started fully sharp and had some zoom effects added in Photoshop.

The next one is of a futuristic corridor at Kings Cross underground station taken in June.

The next one is of the Angle Underground Station on the Northern Line.

Sunday 8 July. Ride to ExtonFor this ride I was down as the leader. I had intended to ride at least as far as elevenses but my chestinessand cough returned so I rode just as far as Chichester Cross and passed the leaders role on to Colin and Gill.

Those doing the ride were Colin, Gill, Chris and John Wickens.

The day started wet though later clearing to sunshine and showers and quite warm in the sun. Below is a picture of the group as they left Chichester Cross. I stayed there to say hello to the slow riders who were due to start at 10.00.

Arthur was the leader in place of Avryl but nobody else turned up so Arthur called the ride off. I went back with Arthur for a Hot Chocolate at his house and to look at his France pictures. Then it was back home via Tangmere and Colworth.

Last week was quite eventful. Monday to Friday I stayed with Peter in Dieppe to see the Tour come through. Another trip had been organised to Dieppe by Arthur for Moulton riders. This was Arthur, Lynn, Avryl, Jan and Brian and Di. They came over on Tuesday and went back on Thursday and we met up with them.

Below is a picture of the Tour coming up the Col de Dieppe on the western edge of town. The picture started out all sharp and I then added a pan blur for movement in Photoshop. The blur effect was partly removed for the background cyclists and fully removed for the 4 Sky riders to make them fully sharp and stand out in the picture.

The Sky riders from left to right are Christian Knees, Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Edvald Boosson Hagen. The Sky riders all wear yellow helmets as the current leaders of the Team Classification in the Race.

Yesterday the Club Barbecue was held at Barnham at Harvey’s house. Despite rain most of the evening 20 were there and the 2 barbecues were kept busy. Some of us were in the lounge and some in the greenhouse. Further interest was added with a power cut. This ended abruptly when Mrs Probert lit some candles.

While I was in France the stats on my pictures on the photo sharing website Flickr rolled over to 100,000 views of my pictures since I started adding photos near enough a year ago

Below are 2 of my latest pictures to be processed.

First a picture of a tunnel at Green Park underground station with a zoom blur added in Photoshop.

In marked contrast to most of the summer so far, the weather today was pleasantly warm, with no threat of rain, although by the ride start time it had clouded over a bit, and there was a stiff south-westerly.

Eight of us met at the start point - a record for this seasons evening rides. Carol & Steve, Julian, Debbie, John, Harvey, Alan, & myself.

Our route took us around the back of Felpham to Flansham, then cyclepath to Barnham. From there, Mill Lane to Yapton, then Horsemere Green, Climping School and the path through the fields to the pub.

Returning home at about 21.30 it was still very light so I was persuaded to go across the fields through Ancton Woods to Elmer and return via Middleton. Despite recent torrential rain, the trail through the woods was completely dry, but we noticed while crossing the bridge over the Ryebank Rife that the the water level was quite high in what is usually at this time of year, a dry ditch. This ancient spine of a once mighty estuary was adapted and deepened almost a thousand years ago into a drainage ditch, drying out a wetlands area, and it looks as though it can still revert to that role when required.

It was still light when we arrived back in Felpham, having done a round trip of 14.2 miles.

Sunday 24 June. Cafe to Cafe RideFor this ride I met the group for lunch at Lily’s Cafe Barnham.

After overnight rain the skies remained dark and threatening by 10.00. In the end it stayed dry with some sunshine in the afternoon though with a strong SW wind.

Arthur was the leader and he was joined at the Cross by Lynn, Chris, Keith and 6 from the Moulton Club.

Arthur led the group out of Chichester via West Street and then up the Centurion Way to Lavant. Then it was across to Goodwood Airfield flying Club Cafe for elevenses.

Next it was on via lanes to Tangmere, across the Airfield to Oving. Then it was on to Eastergate and to Barnham for lunch at Lily’s Cafe. After lunch the group returned to Tangmere for tea at the Tangmere Museum Cafe.

I headed back from lunch via Yapton and Felpham and on Bognor Front came across an Armed Forces Day event and a Spitfire doing a lone Air Display above the sea.

Below are 2 of my latest pictures to be processed.

First a picture of the Louvre from my Paris Trip.

Below is a picture of light trails from London Buses in Parliament Square taken in March. 3 images were combined to get more light trails.

Sunday 17th June. Ride to HookswayGill led the ride today in my place as I still have the chest infection. This is Gill’s report.

Today's ride was windy and a bit hilly. Sam, Ray, Brian and Sue came with me to 11's at Compton. Sam and Ray and I had lunch at Hooksway, and Sam and I had Tea at Aldingbourne. Sam tells me the whole ride was about 50 miles. My computer is having a few issues.

Gill

The Strawberry Tea was called off due to the recent weather and low numbers expected to attend.

Some of my latest pictures below. The first one is of a Sculpture Tower in La Defence Paris.

The one below is my latest picture intended to depict the Earth rising on the Moon 4.5 billion years ago when the Earth was covered with oceans of Magma

It was a bright and breezy afternoon today, as six of us- Julian, Debbie, Ray, Alan, Liz, & myself -set off from Bognor Library.

To avoid the unusually stong winds - considerably lighter than the previous day but still gusting to 31mph from the South West - I planned an easterly and northerly route so that we could take as much advantage from wind assistance as possible.

We set out through Felpham to Flansham and then the usual cyclepath to Barnham.From there it was Eastergate village and after a quarter of a mile of main road, up Northfields Lane - a little muddier and wetter than usual due to the recent heavy rain. On reaching the A27 Alan took us along the pavement to the crossing at Norton Lane that goes directly into the back of the Country Centre. I have not been this way for something over 10 years and last time I did it, it led into the dead-end lane next to the Centre. Unfortunately the recent addition of a farm park has resulted in the Centre gating and fencing in its boundaries, meaning the direct route into the centre is closed off again, and the route now takes the old right of way it always used to, out onto the lane at the front. However still an interesting diversion.

At the cafe we met 4Arun-Adur members halfway around one of their easy Saturday jaunts - starting today I believe, from Ford Station.

Our return route back to Bognor was once again out the back way, then Norton Lane to Aldingbourne, Hook Lane, Woodgate, and down to Shripney. At Shripney Lane we found the road closed off for bypass construction, but fortunately a clear pathway through for cyclists and pedestrians. I knew the road had been closed to through traffic, but had omitted to check beforehand that it was still cycleable!

After a ride through the Bognor backroads the ride finished back at the library, a round trip of 17 miles.

Sunday 3rd July. Jubilee SundayArthur was due to lead a ride to Compton today. I later heard from him that nobody turned up and the ride was abandoned. I think a combination of the weather and competing Jubilee Celebrations.

That applied to me as I headed up to London for the Thames Pageant. The bike only as far as the Station and then I took a train to Victoria. This was a direct train and the big advantage of starting at the first Station is getting a seat on a day like today.

My enthusiasm did not stretch far enough to get up very early to get a good viewpoint. After checking out view points on Google Street view yesterday I headed for the Albert Embankment on the South Bank near Vauxhall Bridge. There was a slight rise on a grassy area, enough to get some view behind a crowd about 6 deep in front of me. I was there by 12.00 with the Pageant due to start passing at 3.00 so more crowds built up behind me.

The view was good enough to see the boats coming by but not good enough for clear pictures with waving flags, people’s heads and everybody else, like me holding their cameras above the heads in front of them.

Below are some of the better ones. First there is the Heralds Barge.

Next is the Royal Barge where I think the out of focus flag in the foreground adds to the image.

Last the one picture I got of a boat free of obstructions. This is the Minden, a former Dutch Fire Boat which coincidentally is normally moored in Emsworth Harbour.

The day had been dry so far with just a few spots of drizzle and dampness in the air. I was lucky as the boats had just about all passed when the heavens opened and I walked back to Vauxhall Tube Station with a few thousand others and made good use of the umbrella I had carried all day.

The evening rides this year have been beset with poor weather, meaning that all of the organised rides from Felpham have thus far run short of their intended destination, or not run at all.

Today, for different reasons, we still ended up at a different destination.

The weather, glorious hot sunshine of late, had deteriorated through the week and was cloudy and dull, although not much wind, with temperature about 16 degrees. Although there was rain in the air, this disapeared as we got going.

Seven of us - Harvey, Debbie, Steve, Carol, Julian, John, & myself - set out from the ALC up the cycle track to Barnham. Because of construction work on the "Site 6" housing development and the Bognor bypass, the route from the Golf Club to Hoe Lane is closed until the end of July, for major refurbishment, so I took a different path through the Roundle Estate and across new housing to Hoe Lane. Then it was the track to Barnham, and around the back of the village to Walberton. There we found the rumours to be true - the Holly Tree was closed, and indeed had been closed since January; plans to re-open appear to have stalled.

A quick vote was taken as to an alternataive stop and we settled on the Maypole. I took a roundabout route via Avisford Park Road, North End, then Lake Lane and over the railway foot crossing to Maypole Lane and the pub.

Our return route was direct to Yapton (where Harvey peeled off for home at the Olive Branch) whilst the rest of us returned to Felpham via Bilsham and Middleton.

The weather today was dry, sunny and warm with temperatures up to about 24C.

I was not able to ride today due to a continuing Chest Infection though this has nearly cleared up.

Arthur was the leader and during the day 19 attended in all. From the Club there was Arthur, Lynn, Debbie, Avryl, Jan, Colin, Keith, Sam, Roger, Brian and Bob and Gill Marshall. There were also a number from the Moulton Club invited by Arthur.

The start was 7.00 am from Chichester Cross. Not long after setting off the riders came to a spot where some youths had smashed beer bottles on a path which some riders couldn’t miss. This resulted in 2 punctures before breakfast and 2 after.

Puncture and smoking stop

This was Arthur’s flat 100 mile ride so the route was carefully devised to keep to the coastal plain avoiding all hills, while taking in a lot of quite lanes. Breakfast was at The Boaters Bar, Prinsted, Emsworth. After various lanes the group made their way to East Wittering for lunch. By now everybody was feeling the effects of the heat with light winds and a humid feel. This was quite a change from some recent wet Sundays.

Rose Green en route to Littlehampton

Tea was at The Look and Sea Cafe in Littlehampton.

Roger, Colin and Keith did part of the ride while rest completed it. Gill and Bob turned off near the end but would have done 100 miles by home. Mileage from Chichester and back was 102.8.

Back to Chichester

Mission accomplished

Below are some more pictures from Paris which I processed over the last week. The first one was of the main Aisle of Notre Dame. This reached 15th place on the Flickr Explore pages for the day out of about a million uploads. The next one is of an interesting Paris Metro Station. The last is near Sacre Coeur. The illusion is because the grass was actually a steep bank and I tilted the Camera. This reached 17th on the Explore pages. Larger pictures and more details can be found on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/edwinjones

The weather today was dry but cloudy and a little warmer than the average of late at 15C.

I was not able to ride today due to a continuing Chest Infection. I was down as leader so I arranged with Colin yesterday for him to lead the ride. Unfortunately things went a little wrong as there was an error in the Section Rides List with the Pedaller List showing a start time of 9.00 and the Section Rides List showing a start time of 9.30. Sorry about that, missed by myself and the numerous proof readers I get to check it. Gill and Rex turned up at 9.00 and Colin at 9.30.

Gill led the ride to Petworth for elevenses meeting Arun Adur there led by Richard. Richard led the combined group to lunch at the Red Lion, Fernhurst. Anne rode direct and joined the group at Fernhurst.

Meanwhile Colin went to Chichester Cross at 9.30 and nobody joined him there so he took his own route but was late getting there and missed everyone else.

Despite all this I think everybody had good rides.

Below are some more pictures from Paris processed over the last week. Some fairly unusual futuristic ones. The first one was the from the front window of an automated Metro Train coming into a station. I called it Warp Speed on the Metro. The second is of a canopy over the entrance to the EDF building in the La Defence business district. This strongly resembles the underside of the Starship Enterprise. I called it Starship Enterprise Paris. The third is a night time view of the Business District. I called this 23rd Century Paris. Larger pictures and more details can be found on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/edwinjones